A Chronological Framework for the Period 208 BC to AD 600

The period, from the Iron Age through to what is sometimes<br/>called the Early Christian Period or the Early Middle Ages, includes<br/>some of the most enigmatic centuries in the whole of Irish<br/>history. In this article we intend to look at various strands of evidence<br/>that have become available from the perspective of dendrochronology.<br/>However, interpretation of dendrochronological<br/>results works best when there is other information to push<br/>against. In the case of this period one of the best sources of parallel<br/>information – information essentially as well dated as tree<br/>rings – has to be records of atmospheric chemistry from the ice<br/>cores that have been drilled at several locations across Greenland.<br/>Combining such information with evidence from tree rings,<br/>palaeoecological research, and occasionally from history, allows<br/>us to trace out a series of events and episodes that form the beginnings<br/>of an understanding of this period between the Iron<br/>Age flowering – with sites such as Emain Mache, Tara, Cruachain<br/>– and the Early Christian flowering – widespread foundation of churches and monasteries.